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Post by spiderhacker on May 15, 2005 16:33:38 GMT -5
Can anyone give me a good reason or know why fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?
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Post by BlueDolphin on May 15, 2005 18:50:30 GMT -5
Fat chance is sarcastic. So it really means slim chance.
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Post by spiderhacker on May 15, 2005 19:26:02 GMT -5
But still, they seem like they should be complete opposities. For instance if slim chance was a small likelihood of something happening it seems only plausible that fat chance would be a large chance of something occurring (or vice versa). Instead, they mean practically the same thing. How did that happen?
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Post by bezzerkker on May 15, 2005 21:09:00 GMT -5
They do mean complete opposites, it is just that "fat chance" is used sarcastically. The sarcasm is what changes the meaning, like with anything else.
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Post by spiderhacker on May 15, 2005 23:41:56 GMT -5
So if I were to say fat chance in a non-sarcastic tone it would mean that there would be a large chance of a specific something occuring?
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Post by Evilduck on May 15, 2005 23:47:50 GMT -5
What it would mean to you depends on what you meant. Others would probably interpret it as a small chance just because we are used to hearing that.
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Post by spiderhacker on May 15, 2005 23:52:53 GMT -5
I don't think anyone would think it was a large chance of something occurring. I think that nowadays it is generally seen as a small likelihood of something occurring.
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Post by Haku on May 16, 2005 1:19:57 GMT -5
...and this, my friends, is why English is so hard to learn for people who did not learn it as a first language...
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Post by Evilduck on May 17, 2005 18:10:40 GMT -5
I dunno, it was pretty easy for me.
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Max
Member
Eat rocket, dirty pic stealer
Posts: 177
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Post by Max on May 17, 2005 19:13:23 GMT -5
when did you learn it, because like if its before 5 years old, it acts like a first language almost, if after, then damn you are good at that, u have no accent
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Post by Evilduck on May 17, 2005 21:37:04 GMT -5
Hmm... Well I guess I started learning it before five so I'm not that great.
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Post by dietspam16 on May 18, 2005 4:31:44 GMT -5
if you phrased it properly and with correct intonation,m an intelligent lfuent listener could probably tell what you meant, but they'd also think you were bizarre and not associate with you
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